In July, on the 200th anniversary of her death, the new plastic Jane Austen £10 note was formally unveiled.

And the new note will enter circulation on Thursday September 14. The old £10 note will be withdrawn in spring 2018. The exact date will be announced at least three months in advance.

Jane Austen died in Winchester in 1817 and is buried in the north aisle of the Cathedral. The new note "will recognise her universal appeal and enduring contribution to English literature", Winchester Cathedral said in a statement concerning the launch.

"There can be no better place to unveil the new £10 banknote, featuring Jane Austen, and there can be no better time than today, the 200th anniversary of her death," Bank of England governor Mark Carney said at the launch.

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Girl power

There are currently no women on the back of English banknotes, something that caused some controversy when Winston Churchill was announced as the featured figure on the new fiver.

Austen's presence on the new £10 note was one of the first things announced by Mr Carney after taking up his position.

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Asked if the unveiling of the note featuring a female figure, following the announcement of a female Dr Who, marked a new girl power, Mr Carney replied: "I think this is a serious issue, there were a series of barriers in Austen's time and barriers that still exist, whether in finance or entertainment, and what can be done to remove those conscious or actual barriers.

"One of the things we have been trying to do is create a pipeline of financiers where a position can be reached where half of our intake are women and that will help make it not a question of something that happens in a certain week but as a matter of course."

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Special feature

The new tenner is the first Bank of England banknote with a tactile feature to help blind and partially-sighted users.

The new tactile feature is a series of raised dots in the top left-hand corner of the banknote, developed with the help of the RNIB.

Features already incorporated into banknotes to help vision-impaired people include different sizing, bold numerals, raised print and differing colour palettes.

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Animal fat controversy

The transition to polymer has sparked controversy after the Bank confirmed that an "extremely small amount" of tallow - or animal fat - was used to produce polymer pellets, which were part of the production process for creating the notes.

In February, the Bank took the decision that this £10 note would be manufactured on the same polymer material.

At the point the decision was taken, the Bank had already printed 275 million £10 notes at a cost of £24m.

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The Bank held off signing supply contracts for the £20 polymer note featuring artist JMW Turner, which is due to be released in 2020, to better understand "the range of public opinion" surrounding the use of tallow in banknote production and explore potential plant-based substitutes like palm and coconut oil. A public consultation on the issue closed in May.

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What else will be on the new note?

Features of the design on the reverse of the Jane Austen note will include:

The quote – “I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading!” from Pride and Prejudice (Miss Bingley, Chapter XI).

Portrait of Jane Austen. Commissioned by James Edward Austen Leigh (Jane Austen’s nephew) in 1870, adapted from an original sketch of Jane Austen drawn by her sister, Cassandra Austen.

An illustration of Miss Elizabeth Bennet undertaking “The examination of all the letters which Jane had written to her”– from a drawing by Isabel Bishop (1902-1988).

The image of Godmersham Park. Godmersham was home of Edward Austen Knight, Jane Austen's brother. Jane Austen visited the house often and it is believed that it was the inspiration for a number of her novels.

Jane Austen’s writing table – the central design in the background is inspired by the 12 sided writing table, and writing quills, used by Jane Austen at Chawton Cottage.

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Will it be smaller than the current note?

Yes. It will be smaller than the £10 note we use now but larger than the new fiver.

When is the new £20 out?

The Bank of England expects to release the plastic £20 note, which features artist J.M.W Turner, by 2020.